With a general election just months away, Lee Anderson, Reform UK’s only MP, has offered a coy response when asked whether Brexit architect Nigel Farage is planning a return to the political area – while admitting such a move would be a “massive boost” for his party.
And the member for Ashfield – who quit the Tories in February in the wake of the row over controversial remarks about London Mayor Sadiq Khan – claimed both the Tories and Labour would be anxious at the prospect of a Farage comeback.
Mr Anderson was complimentary about Mr Farage even before defecting, favourably comparing him to Richard Tice, Reform’s current leader, whom he at the time branded a “pound shop” version of the ex-UKP and Brexit Party leader.
Speaking today as the scale of Tory losses in yesterday’s council elections became clear, he told GB News: “I keep getting asked the question Is he coming back? I don’t know. It’s up to Nigel.
“We have spoken to him about it, but he is keeping his cards close to his chest.”
Mr Anderson continued: “It’s all about timing with Nigel. If he did come back in some capacity, there will be a massive boost for the Reform Party.
“And that’s when the Conservative Party will really start to worry.
“And let me tell you this as well in some of the red wall seats in the north, the Labour Party will be worried as well because Nigel goes down pretty well.”
Referring to his new party’s performance, specifically in the Blackpool North by-election where they polled barely 100 fewer votes than his old one, Mr Anderson added: “We are making massive strides.
“I mean, when you look at the polling from two or three years ago, it was at three or four percent and now we’re getting you know 17 percent.”
He was also asked if he had any sympathy for his ex-colleagues, given Reform’s rise chiefly comes at the expense of the Conservatives, Mr Anderson continued: “I’m in this job to make our country a better place to live and work in for our children, and our families.
“Politics is a brutal game. You know, there are winners and losers in every election.
“There’s no time for sentiment. Yes, some of my colleagues in the Conservative Party will lose their seats and many of those will be friends of mine.
“And I’m still friends with them and I will still be friends with them after the election. But that’s the game. That’s the game we’re in now. It is quite brutal.”
Earlier today, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak acknowledged the local election results as “disappointing” but pointed out that there were still many results to be announced.
Speaking at a military base in North Yorkshire, he said: “Obviously it’s disappointing to lose good, hard-working Conservative councillors and I’m grateful to them for all their service in local government, keeping council tax low and delivering services for local people.
“But we have still got lots of results to come as well, and there are also things that I would point to, Harlow for example where Keir Starmer held a rally just on Wednesday saying that was a place that he had to win to be on track to win a general election.
“That hasn’t happened, and indeed we are still waiting for the results in the Tees Valley mayoralty just near to here which is obviously a very important test as well.”
Subsequently it was confirmed that Tory incumbent Ben Houchen had in fact triumphed in Tees Valley.
